The NBA
The National Basketball Association is the American organisational body. The NBA was founded in 1970 and its head offices are based out of Los Angeles, California. Founding Teams Los Angeles Gold -California Miami Marlins -Florida Houston Patriots - Texas New York Royals -New York Boston Princes - Massachusetts Detroit Iron - Michigan Chicago Rush -Illinois Seattle Emeralds - Washington Conferences The NBA is organized into two conferences, the Eastern and Western Conferences. Each play the same schedule of games Divisions Each Conference was split into two divisions after the expansion of 1974. A new Northern and Southern Division was added to the conference. Expansions 1971 - San Antonio Rangers -Texas - Phoenix Suns - Arizona - Indianapolis Hoosiers - Indiana - Philadelphia Eagles - Pennsylvania 1974 - San Diego Blaze - California - Baltimore Hawks - Maryland - Dallas Knights - Texas - Columbus Nationals - Ohio 1977 - Milwaukee Chiefs - Wisconsin - Charlotte Colts - North Carolina - Denver Dragons - Colorado - Jacksonville Gators - Florida - Washington Generals - D.C - San Francisco Giants - California - Memphis Sabres - Tennessee - Las Vegas Sharks - Nevada 1980 -Atlanta Chargers - Georgia -Brooklyn Outlaws - New York -Oklahoma Titans - Oklahoma -St Louis Warlocks - Missouri 1983 -New Mexico Aztecs - New Mexico -New Orleans Buccaneers -Louisiana -Albany Pipers - New York -Portland Tigers - Washington History 1970 Los Angeles Gold beat the Miami Marlins 3 games to 2 1971 The New York Royals beat Chicago Rush 3 games to 2 1972 The New York Royals beat the Boston Princes 3 games to 2 1973 Chicago Rush beat the New York Royals in 3 games 1974 Chicago Rush beat the New York Royals 3 games to 1 1975 The New York Royals beat the Houston Patriots in 3 games 1976 The Columbus Nationals beat the Dallas Knights in 3 games 1977 The Dallas Knights beat the Columbus Nationals 3 games to 1 1978 The Houston Patriots beat the New York Royals 3 games to 2 1979 The New York Royals beat the Houston Patriots in 3 games 1980 The Baltimore Hawks beat the Seattle Emeralds in 3 games 1981 The Phoenix Suns beat the New York Royals in 3 games 1982 Going into the 1982 season the Phoenix Suns were the favorites. They had a strong line up and were the defending champions. As the regular season progressed, the Suns dominated the Western conference whilst Baltimore Hawks initially looked strong in the East before fading out and being overhauled by the New York Royals. As the play offs dawned, an insurgent Las Vegas Sharks had become the Western team to watch. They knocked the Phoenix Suns out, sending a powerful message to all their opponents. Meanwhile both the Baltimore Hawks and the New York Royals had been knocked out by Detroit Iron and the Boston Princes. The Conference finals came around and the Boston Princes were too strong for a good young Detroit side. In the West, the Las Vegas Sharks narrowly defeated the last remaining "old guard" team of the Houston Patriots, ensuring that there would be new first time champion in 1982. Going into the finals Las Vegas Sharks captain and star guard Blane Holt had been struggling with injury and a recurrence of a calf injury saw him ruled out for the finals. This gave the Princes a critical edge in terms of organization and they were able to sweep the Sharks 3-0 to win their first NBA championship. 1983 The 1983 draft saw 22 year old forward August Palmer drafted first out of UCLA, signing an impressive four year (with an option for a fifth) with the moribund Los Angeles Gold. The Gold had endured a hellish 1982 season and now, with this young star to be the lynchpin of their new team, it was thought that they would make a big comeback in 1983. The journalists made the Boston Princes and Las Vegas Sharks equal favorites, also offering some hope to the Detroit Iron and Denver Dragons. It was thought that the old establishment sides would largely struggle as the New York Royals simply went in with more or less the same line up. The Suns and the Nationals were both in difficult transitional phases. The first half of the season saw many surprises as the Baltimore Hawks dominated the North-Eastern conference and the defending champions, the Princes, make a slow start. The Columbus Nationals were poor but still managed to stay in the hunt for a play off place whilst a youthful Indianapolis side managed to impress many on their run to top the division at the half way mark. The San Francisco Giants initially ran wild but their form fell away as the Las Vegas Sharks got back to business, despite a number of injuries to their team. The Phoenix Suns, on the other hand, suffered a devastating injury crisis and were forced on three occasions to approach the NBA to be allowed to sign a free agent over the wage cap to allow them to field a full side! In the South-West the Oklahoma Titans were the initial pace setters whilst the Houston Patriots languished and the Dallas Knights continued to set records as one of the weakest franchises in basketball. The Denver Dragons went on to lead the division going into the All-Star break. At the All-Star Break the Eastern All-Stars snapped a four year winning streak of the Western All-Stars to prevent a five in a row achievement. As the season went towards the play offs, the Baltimore Hawks managed to build up an impressive lead, stretching this to five games over their rivals. Boston Princes and New York Royals chased at their heels whilst the Charlotte Colts enjoyed a good season, looking set to secure a play off place at the expense of the Washington Generals. The Columbus Nationals managed a second half comeback, overcoming Indianapolis and Detroit's head starts to go ahead. There was a tense race between the Sabres, the Marlins and the Chargers for the other play off place. The San Francisco Giants good start fell away as they were overtaken by the Seattle Emeralds and Chicago Rush who battled it out for the top spot. The Giants also fell behind an injury hit Las Vegas Sharks side. The Giants spent the end of the season battling with the Los Angeles Gold to remain in the play-offs. In the final division; the Denver Dragons were able to just about maintain a lead. They were chased by injury ravaged Phoenix Suns, an improved San Antonio Rangers and the South's surprise package; the Oklahoma Titans. The Houston Patriots showed signs of a recovery but didn't look like having enough gas to make the play-offs. The Hawks were the first side to clinch the divisional title, winning the North-Eastern division for the first time. Seattle Emeralds clinched a fifth division title. The Denver Dragons won their first division title whilst the Indianapolis Hoosiers young side won a divisional title. The play-offs arrived and the Boston Princes saw off the Columbus Nationals, again. The Hawks edged out surprise package the Memphis Sabres but the big shock came as the Detroit Iron defeated the New York Royals, their second successive defeat in the first round of the play-offs. The Indianapolis Hoosiers defeated the Charlotte Colts. On the other side of the draw the Seattle Emeralds knock out the Oklahoma Titans and the Phoenix Suns, lucky to make the play-offs after their horrible start to the season, defeated the Chicago Rush. The Denver Dragons progressed at the expense of the San Francisco Giants. Last year's finalists the Las Vegas Sharks beat the San Antonio Rangers, who had been a surprise package that season. The Boston Princes then progressed to their second successive conference finals, defeating the Detroit Iron. The Hoosiers beat longtime rivals the Columbus Nationals. The Las Vegas Sharks managed to also reach another conference finals, beating the Denver Dragons. The Phoenix Suns renewed their long standing rivalry with the Seattle Emeralds, reaching the conference finals. The Princes and the Suns progressed to contest the 1984 conference championship, giving both sides a chance to become a two time NBA champion. The series went to five games but the Princes came out top once again, with star player Scott "the Kingmaker" Seward departing the team as a three time NBA title winner. __FORCETOC__